


Rain Like Ash

by Cupcakemolotov



Series: mini-drabbles [28]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Elemental Magic, F/M, Magic is Real, No Sut, dark themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 20:03:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14456712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cupcakemolotov/pseuds/Cupcakemolotov
Summary: In the ruined skyline of New York, Caroline meets the hybrid.





	Rain Like Ash

"So you're Caroline."

She turned, strands of her ponytail curling around her throat in the summer breeze. The alley was dark except for the moon, electricity scarce in this part of New York. She'd never have thought the first time she'd visit the city if her childhood dreams that she'd be in a dystopian nightmare.

The man in front of her was just as easy in the dark as she, but the feel of him told her he didn't have witchblood. No, this was something different. Pretty curls and lips, he could have been one of those old paintings she'd only seen on Wikipedia before the world went dark. But the curve of his smile, the calculation in his eyes promised something far more dangerous.

"So I am."

That smile widened, teeth white in the moonlight, and she studied him with cautious eyes. He seemed to enjoy her watchfulness, strolling closer. She wondered if he was brave or simply didn't care that she had become a weapon when magic had recreated the world.

"I'd heard a fireborn walked my city, but you aren't what I expected."

She arched a brow. "Blonde?"

"Lovely."

Caroline snorted, ignoring his attempt at charming. Instead she focused on his claim that the city belonged to him. "So I take it you're Klaus."

Dimples tucked into both cheeks, and she understood it wasn't just the power that radiated from him that made him dangerous. She hadn't expected him to be charismatic under the rage she'd heard about. His witch blood had been dead for a millennia, and now his power came from blood and the moon. An unkillable hunter.

"You've heard of me."

She shrugged a shoulder. "Hard to miss it when you have such a tendency for messy, public executions."

An unexpected laugh, hands sliding into the pockets of his jeans. "Most people are a bit more… circumspect with their tongues, in the hopes to keep them."

Caroline supposed she should be afraid. Klaus would follow through that particular threat if she pushed, but her first lesson as a firestarter had been to never let fear control her. Fire was a rush, but it could become wild, so she'd learned control.

Things only burned now if she wanted them too.

"Sounds boring," she said simply. "Is there a reason you tracked me down?"

A hint of a dimple, and he freed his hands to motion to wards her wrist. "If I may?"

She could deny him, but it was a simple enough request. One others had made, but not nearly so polite. With a sigh, she offered her wrist, eyes narrowed in warning as he held her hand gently, gaze studying the tattoo that circled the bone.

When Magic had recreated the world, it'd bestowed great and terrible gifts. Witchblood had been the most dramatic, the truth of their nature turning more elemental. The Ouroboros that circled her wrist was done in flickering shades of blue and white, a physical representation of her power. She'd heard the Phoenixes were more common, red fire a familiar sight in the charcoaled pits of burned out cities.

"Blue fire," he murmured, thumb brushing across skin that hadn't been touched in decades, and she pulled her hand free. Her skin still buzzed, power a lingering caress against her skin. "Uncommon in an elemental."

"Planning on trying for a bite?" She drawled, gaze narrowed. Vampires could steal power if they drank enough blood, but it only lasted until their next feed.

"From you?" Klaus said thoughtfully, something calculating and predatory behind his eyes. "Not tonight."

Faint flickers of blue fire danced suddenly between them, the edges paling to white. "I'm not easy prey."

His hands clasped behind his back in a faux-show of contriteness. "Let me buy you dinner."

"Not interested," she said firmly, tucking her power away. "You're known for eating people, not charming them."

"I can be very charming," he denied, something like delight sparking behind his eyes. "Why waste it on the unworthy?"

Caroline laughed then, brushing her hair away as he watched her with eyes ringed in gold. Blood and moon called, this monster with his double fangs and hungry beasts watched her with a hunger she didn't know how to categorize. "Should I infer that you wish me to believe I'm worthy?"

A glittering glance, and he took an easy step away. "Do you not?"

"I make a point not to assume," she said instead of answering. "If this interview is over…"

A dip of his head, a king's dismissal, but the expression behind his eyes warned her that this was only an opening salvo. He'd sought her out for a reason, and her Ouroboros had intrigued him. Lips pursed as she watched him walk away, she brushed a single flaming fingertip across her wrist, attempting to wipe away the feel of his flesh against hers.

It didn't quite work.


End file.
